Page 48 of The Gift
“YOU THINK?”
Wisely, he throws his hands up in surrender. His blue eyes a swirling mix of anger and apology while he searches for the right words. He’s too slow, and I’ve got things I want to do, like leave this day behind me.
I hate feeling the way I do. My life is black and white. Suddenly there is grey everywhere. I don’t want to pass the buck, but all this started when the A-team popped up into my world. Shit, maybe my world was about to implode without them, but right here, right now, they’re blurring both my lines and my ability to think. Period.
I drop my head to my car, and I know he’ll be able to hear me. “I hate being this person, Henley.”
“The situation went from bad to worse. We’re all a little on edge after our meeting with Donnie. It wasn’t your fault.”
Maybe he’s right, but it doesn’t make what happened, nor what he said, go away.
“I get what you did, but what you said?” I say, still looking down at my feet instead of him. I need some space to see things differently. My head is pretty thick with blame, which might or might not be warranted. Risking a look at Henley, he doesn’t try to hide his own mix of emotions.
“Yeah, that kind of popped out of my mouth, but in my defence, I saw you in trouble and not just from Colton. We all reacted, a part of me being a bit more insistent, a little louder than the others. I was quickest, Bailey, but the rest of my pack was there to do the same,” he says before he stops talking. A few seconds pass where neither of us speak but there’s lots of noise coming from Jenna’s.
“And the letter?”
“I need more time to have a look at it and speak with other alphas, to see if they have received anything like this. My pack has received similar images and letters, but before I tell you more I need to establish if we’re dealing with one person or copy cats.”
“You’ll be more honest with me than Exposé has?”
“Where we can, of course. Did Colton hurt you?”
“A little,” I whisper, and I hate the wobble I hear in my voice. “My head is a mess, Henley. Everything you guys do, I read things into.”
“What if that’s because you need to see things differently?”
I wave my hand up, my head really full of conflicting outcomes and clashing reasons. His phone rings, interrupting us. And this time I read it as the world telling me to leave it there. At least for a little while.
“You better get back,” I offer, looking past him to Jenna’s house again.
The phone keeps ringing, but he lets it go unanswered. He shrugs, not saying anything, maybe he’s not sure what to say or do. That makes two of us.
“I’m going to go before Carmen wants an explanation. Thank you for helping me, I guess I’m struggling with how you managed it.”
“There was a reason you responded, and you most certainly should read into that, what we’ve been hinting at, perhaps too subtly.” He finishes our discussion on a softer note than where it started. “I’ll be disciplining Colton though, in front of everyone, because he should not have done what he did. I’d be pissed off if he’d dry humped anyone back there, you made it personal though. I’ll also be sending one of my pack to follow you. Pick who.”
“Koda or Reno.”
I was expecting all sorts of objections and reminders of the creeper danger, but he lets me go without another word. It strikes deep, adding more confusion to my day.
My phone rings as I turn out of the lane next to Jenna’s cottage. The call connects through my stereo.
“Bails, you good?”
Koda’s voice wraps all around me. Maybe even holding me together to give me the chance to figure out some of the thoughts in my head. Twice now today the A-team have been there. And that is the biggest blur of all. I get a feeling the universe is daring me to pull my head out of my ass and actually consider who this pack could be.
“Yeah,” I answer him after clearing my throat. God, I wish we were in his truck, driving away from all this.
“What do you need?”
I start driving the way he does, fast and aggressive. I’m actually okay now that I’ve left but this helps. I recognise CJ got caught up, but I’m starting to feel like I made more of a scene than anyone and that annoys me. I’m embarrassed my colleagues saw, worried my cover is blown, deeply confused about the A-team.
“What do you need?” Koda repeats, not hiding his concern.
I laugh, it’s sardonic and more than a little self-depreciating, “I need answers, but it’s not about what I need apparently.”
Koda purrs, the noise rumbling through the phone before he speaks. “So, youwantme to come fuck you hard enough to forget what happened, Bails? Or I’ll send Reno. Fuck, girl, Ashton is ready to run to you too. Let us help you because we need to. And want to.”
